Blood Sugar Monitor

Approximately 21 million Americans have diabetes.  This disease in which the blood is not able to adequately transport glucose (the energy that sustains us) from the blood to muscles and other tissues can cause serious complications such as heart disease, kidney failure, and blindness.  Therefore, it is imperative that those who have diabetes manage it effectively.  Proper diet, regular exercise, medication, and frequent monitoring of blood glucose levels are key to controlling the disease.  The Freestyle blood sugar monitor is one device that checks blood sugar levels.  With the Freestyle blood sugar monitor people can determine how food intake, medication, stress, and activity levels are affecting the disease.In October 2005 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new statistics on the prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus within the American population.  According these statistics, Diabetes– a chronic and life-threatening illness – affects 21 million Americans or 7% of the population.  Another 8 million Americans do not realize that they have the disease.  It is also estimated that an additional 41 million people are at higher risk of developing Type II Diabetes, the most common form of the disease, because they have a condition known as pre-diabetes.  Pre-diabetes occurs when a person has impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and/or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).

Diabetes occurs when the body cannot rid itself of the blood glucose (sugar) that it produces.  When we eat most of the food is converted into glucose, which our bodies use for energy. The pancreas makes the hormone, insulin, which is used to help move glucose from the blood to muscles and other tissues.  When the body does not make enough insulin or cannot use its own insulin, glucose builds up in the blood.  These high blood glucose levels can cause a myriad of problems including nausea, bloating, and poor digestion, extreme weakness, gum disease, blindness, and a number of other acute and chronic illnesses. There are two major types of diabetes:

1. Type 1 Diabetes, also known as insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile-onset diabetes, accounts for approximately 5% to 10% of all cases of diabetes. Children and young adults are most at-risk of developing this illness, although it can strike at any age. It occurs when the body’s immune system destroys the pancreatic beta cells that make insulin.  Thus, the body does not produce the insulin needed to get glucose into the cells. 

2. Type 2 Diabetes, also known as non-insulin dependent diabetes or adult-onset diabetes, accounts for 90% to 95% of all cases of diabetes.  The disease generally develops in older individuals.  Insulin resistance, the cells failure to use insulin properly, is usually the first sign of Type 2 Diabetes.  As the need for insulin increases, the pancreas slowly loses its ability to produce insulin.

For those who have diabetes, management of the illness is key to living a long, high quality life.  Managing diabetes includes eating properly, exercising regularly, and monitoring blood glucose levels.  The Freestyle blood sugar monitor helps those with diabetes keep track of their glucose levels. The Freestyle blood sugar monitor provides diabetes sufferers with information about how medication, food intake, activity levels, and stress are affecting blood glucose levels.  It helps people and their doctors manage their diabetes by determining what adjustments to diet, medication, and lifestyle are needed to control the disease.

The Freestyle blood sugar monitor comes in three varieties – Freestyle Flash, Freestyle Freedom, and Precision Extra – so diabetes sufferers can choose a monitor that best fits their needs.

Diabetes is a serious disease that can end people’s lives or greatly decrease the quality of their lives.  However, education about the disease, proper diet, exercise, and frequent monitoring of blood glucose levels (using devices like the Freestyle blood sugar monitor) can help diabetes sufferers live long, healthy lives.